THE organisers of the aQuellé Tour Durban say they are ‘cautiously optimistic’ that they will be able to use the M4 despite the closure of the highway (between uMhlanga and Sibaya) due to a bank collapse.
The road races, which coincides with Freedom Day long weekend will see the 45km and 90km races use the popular M4 from Moses Mabhida to eMdloti and back.
New event director for the Tour Durban, Alec Lenferna, told Northglen News he was hopeful that work to repair the damaged section of the M4 would be completed before the event.
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“At this point in time we haven’t made alternate arrangements because we haven’t had an opportunity to sit down with the powers that be to discuss what the plan was going forward. In December last year we had agreed to meet at the end of January to get some feedback. As organisers we don’t want to put undue pressure on the roleplayers involved in the repair work.
“We have no doubt the Department of Transport are putting all their plans in place and we would like to give them an opportunity to work out their timeframe. If there is a problem about using the M4 then we can start working on an alternate arrangement, but until we are told differently we are working on the premise we will be able to use the M4 in some shape or form come the 26 April,” he said.
Lenferna said organisers had contingency plans in place for the race but acknowledge the fact that the repairs to the busy highway were of the utmost importance.
“I don’t expect extra bodies to be brought in to repair the M4 just because there is a cycle race approaching. We don’t want to get too hysterical about things and we want to give the engineers and department the opportunity to assess the situation and give us a realistic indication of what their are feelings are about using the M4. I’m sure repair work is being carried out speedily because the highway’s closure has impacted so many motorists,” he said.
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